2. Dying For Sex - I don't like this show. I can see why others do, but I'm having a hard time connecting to it and I think Michelle Williams is awful in this role. And I like Michelle Williams! She's given some incredible performances, but she's also been terrible in multiple roles and somehow still gets praise for them. She just doesn't feel real or genuine at all, and she makes the weirdest faces. It's like she's trying to be awkward but it feels so forced. And I'll just never connect to women like this - who don't communicate to their partner, and are left so sexually repressed and sad. Like, why did you get married to this person that you're not even attracted to? The whole premise is that she's been given a death sentence (incurable cancer), so she decides she doesn't want to spend her last days with her husband because he's never given her an orgasm. But the whole point of getting married is to literally agree to die with that person. It's like the Lady Gaga song "Is That Alright" ("I want you at the end of my life, I want to see your face when I fall from grace, at the moment I die. Is that alright?"). I get that she feels smothered by him because he's trying to take care of her and he goes a little too far (men have that need to "fix" everything. My husband does it too. When I get depressed, he becomes insufferable because he's trying to "fix" me. BUT I COMMUNICATE and we work through it!). I actually feel bad for her husband because he's sacrificed a large chunk of his life caring for her and she just....leaves him. It's really shitty. I also don't connect to the whole submission/dom fetish with sex. And they make sex seem so fucking complicated. I don't understand. You'll have better sex if you have sex with people you're attracted to. It's literally that simple. Anyway, I also HATE the inner-monologue. It's so grating. As is Jenny Slate as her bff. I like Slate, but she can definitely get annoying, and she goes over-the-top with this flaky friend character. But, there's also some funny stuff. And I do think that some women, unfortunately, will connect with this and maybe it will drive them to make some changes in their life too (but please don't leave your loving husband. Just talk to him!). I did laugh a few times (like when she masterbates to Speed. LOL). I'm actually only 1/2 way through the series, so maybe it will address some of the problems that I have with it. We shall see.
3. Toxic Town - Great story, but this miniseries is a bit of a letdown. First, I cannot get past Jodie Whittaker's WILD Scottish accent. I winced when I heard it. And sometimes I think "well, obviously, I'm not an expert...maybe it's good. Let's see what the internet says", so I looked it up, and NO, it's not just me. The consensus is that it's a terrible attempt. The Scottish accent is actually one of my favorite accents so I do feel like I can tell when it's bad, but just like with American accents - a lot of it is regional so maybe it's fine, so I was relieved to see all of the negative reviews for it. Anyway, she's the star of the show so it's automatically a difficult watch. Plus her hairstyle goes from bad to worse as the series progresses over 13 years. But the supporting cast is great - Aimee Lou Wood, Rory Kinnear, Robert Carlyle, the butler guy from Downton Abby, and the girl from Bridgerton (sorry I don't feel like looking up names). I like that it's only 4 episodes long, but it feels very choppy. It jumps forward in time without explaining how much time has gone by so it's very jarring. Like all of the sudden her twins are toddlers! WHAT?! I also think it could have been a 90 minute movie. There's not enough story here for 3.5 hours of viewing. It repeats itself a lot. But, again, it's an important story (that's based on a true story) - about fighting back against these big corporations that are literally killing people. It's a bit like Erin Brockovich, so if you like stories like that, then this is definitely worth a watch.
4. Adolescence - Technically spectacular. The first and last episode are stunning. The one continuous take for each episode is SO GOOD. I feel like this has been used as a bit of a gimmick lately (it's popping up everywhere from The Bear to The Studio), but this is on another level (actually The Bear episode is one of my favorite oners ever). The way this actually shifts locations, though, really makes it feel chaotic and urgent. I like Stephen Graham a lot, and am really excited for what he does next, writing-wise (he co-created & co-wrote this). We've definitely seen the story before - female student gets murdered by her male classmate, but we've never seen these stories from these perspectives before. From the perspective of this boy's family (his father, in particular), the detective working the case, and the therapist trying to decipher the motives and mental state. It's all very interesting and impactful. You want to know something funny??? This is how I found out where the word "incel" came from. I know that it's a word used for these loser type males who live in their mom's basement and harass women in their spare time and blame them for all their problems. But I thought the word "incel" came from the fact that these guys will likely end up "in a cell" (like a jail cell), eventually. LOL at my dumbass. So, when they say "involuntarily celibate", I paused my tv and sat in a bit of shock at this slang education. Anyway, I think the show does a good job at showing the cycle of violence & trauma - because bullying and calling someone an "incel", especially a young boy will ruin their life and without proper guidance young boys will react how they've been trained to by the media (violently). It also tackles how social media has shaped the adolescent experience (I'm so happy that didn't exist when I was a teenager. We had AIM and that's about it). I like that there's no "did he do it?" aspect after the first episode because we see him do (CCTV did it's fucking job!). I think the second and third episodes are a little bit of a letdown after the exhilarating first episode - they both move at a much slower pace. But the 4th episode is really strong with the focus on the family. It's a show that is trying to engage with its viewer, create a dialogue, and hopefully help parents, teachers, therapists that are impacting children to discuss things more openly. And maybe limit the use of Instagram and Tik-Tok?? It's just so bad for people's mental health. It's tough because once your kid is a teenager, you want to give them privacy and respect them, but it's just impossible with the access they have nowadays. You have to be on top of that shit. No excuses.
5. The Residence - It's like Clue and Knives Out but...not good? Very boring, in fact. It's a whodunnit, but nobody cares whodunnit, so it feels like a very pointless exercise. I love Uzo Adubo, though (and her hair is FABULOUS in this!). I've also been sucked in by many Shondaland shows, so it's surprising that this hasn't done that yet. I think I'm on the 5th episode, but I fell asleep for 1/2 of it and didn't feel like I missed anything important. That's a big problem. There's a great supporting cast, but so far a lot of them are underused - like Eliza Coupe who has just spent every episode interjecting and looking angry, but has not been given a backstory or anything. Also, Susan Kelechi Watson, Jane Curtin, Jason Lee, Ken Marino, Randall Park, Giancarlo Esposito, the list goes on! And they got Kylie Minogue to cameo as herself?! WOW. And they cast Julian McMahon as the Australian Prime Minister which is funny casting if you know that his dad was actually an Australian Prime Minister (now you know!). I think my problem with the show is that the episodes are too long. It should be 6 episodes at 35-40 minutes instead of 8 almost hour long episodes. It also could use a lot more humor - a lot of the jokes land with a thud. I do like that the episode titles are all famous whodunit stories (Dial M for Murder, Knives Out, The Third Man, etc.).
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